“And how’s work?” she asked, flitting her eyes between us. “After the merger, is it all going well?”
I shrugged. Ethan nodded “Yeah, good. There’s plenty to do but I think it will be great to have a European network.” Ethan sounded enthusiastic. More enthusiastic than me.
“I’ve lost my work mojo at the moment,” I murmured honestly. I’d not said it out loud before but once the words had left my lips, I realized that the thoughts that had been swirling around my head recently were more than the usual weekend blues as the prospect of another week ahead.
“Really?” Ethan turned to me, his eyebrows knitted together.
“A bit.”A lot.The thought of having no prospect of running into him at work made the thought of going in on Monday even bleaker.
“Is Adams being a dick?” Paul Adams was the partner I did most of my work with.
“Language,” Jessica hissed, pointing at the buggy where Izzy was fast asleep.
Ethan rolled his eyes.
“No more than usual,” I replied. “I just . . . I’m sure it will be fine and if it’s not, I can give it all up and go to India and become a yoga teacher.”
Everyone laughed but Ethan’s was forced. I reached across and stroked his knee. He grabbed my hand.
I wanted to leave right then. I just wanted it to be us. I turned my head sideways and he met my stare. He knew. He could see what I wanted and so we would leave at thefirst polite opportunity and have our last night in London together.
Ethan
As much as I loved my sister, I wanted to be alone with Anna. Our last night together should be about us. We needed to talk, finally, about our future. Did she think we had one? Why was she putting off this conversation until the very last minute?
When she looked at me, I knew she wanted to leave too. I loved the way I could see what was going on behind those beautiful eyes, most of the time.
I stood up to help Jessica clear the table.
“Thanks, Bond. James thinks I’m his personal slave.”
James rolled his eyes. “If you weren’t obsessed with clearing the dishes as soon as the last person has swallowed their final mouthful then I might get a chance to help before you started nagging.”
God, were they still in love? I couldn’t remember if they’d always been like this. Snipping at each other, throwing biting comments back and forth. It was exhausting to watch. I’d much rather be fucking Anna than fighting with her.
The four of us cleared the table and I made our excuses. Jessica, for once, didn’t argue with me. I believed her when she said she wanted to see it work with Anna. Maybe that’s why she didn’t give me a hard time about leaving straight after eating.
“Make sure you two talk it out. I want to see you happy together,” Jessica called as we made our way down their path to the street.
Anna looked at me and rolled her eyes. “Your sister is relentless.”
I smiled. “She is. But she’s right. The time is now. We need to talk.”
Anna nodded but didn’t say anything as I flagged down a taxi. We sat close in the cab and I held her hand in both of mine, rubbing my thumb across her knuckles. The tension thickened between us. We sat in silence as the London streets zipped by. I’d miss this city. New York was part of my soul but so was Anna—and for me London was all about Anna, which made it the best place on earth.
I was trying to decide how I was going to say what I wanted to say. I’d had weeks, no months, to think about it and now the moment was almost here and I couldn’t quite decide how to put what I was feeling into words. I loved her. I wanted us to be together. But I needed her to want all the same things and I wasn’t sure if I was about to get my heart ripped out of my chest.
As the cab pulled up, Anna took a deep breath. I tried to catch her eye but she avoided looking at me. I felt a dull thud in my chest. Fuck. I didn’t know if I’d survive this.
We made our way into the apartment in silence. Anna was first to speak, thanking me as I took her jacket.
“Whiskey?” she asked.
I nodded. I followed her to the kitchen and she set about the now familiar routine of setting out the glasses, dividing the ice and then pouring the amber liquid.
We took our drinks and Anna forced a smile at me. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
We settled on the sofa and I pulled her legs onto my lap. I loved being able to touch her any time I pleased. I loved that whenever we sat on this sofa, her legs were mine.
